NEW DELHI, Aug 29: A labourer in a drunken state spilled the “secret” and the Madhya Pradesh police could lay their hands on a treasure trove of archaeological importance in Dhar.
The treasure trove of antique gold coins, a metallic urn, a piece of gold, and old gold jewellery was unearthed during the demolition of a dilapidated house taken up for reconstruction, the police said on Monday.
According to the Additional Superintendent of Police, Devendra Patidar, the treasure trove of archaeological importance was discovered by labourers while clearing the debris at the house. The eight labourers working there joined hands and decided to keep the matter secret from the owner of the house and distributed the treasure among themselves.
But unfortunately for them, one of the eight labourers in a drunken state boasted to his colleagues the next day that he sold one of the coins in the market for about ₹ 56,000 and cleared all his pending bills and also bought a second hand phone.
He was overheard by some others and the word reached the police. After receiving the information, the police arrested the labourers and recovered 86 coins so far. The owner of the house was totally unaware of the treasure that was hidden in his house, which the police said had a market value of over ₹ 60 lakh and an archaeological value of over ₹ 1.25 crore.
The police said they have informed the archaeological department and the revenue department regarding the discovery.
(Manas Dasgupta)